[silvergrey525]

Yes, I have the XI model

All I can say is the WP and TS are out of the car. After receiving the warning alarms and having the car towed to my home, I work on my car last night and parts should be here in the morning.

The above is a great write up but it's still very similiar to the 525XI. Yes, as asked above, very little room to gain access to the hoses for removal. The tricks I learned are as follows,

1. clean area well as mine had oil and crap over everything, allows you see clamps much better for removal
2. Remove obvious lower radiator hose which attaches to the TS (Thermo Stat) and drain into big pan, 1.5 gallons
3. Learn the 3 types of clamp styles, 1. standard flat tip style clamp, 2. then there is the metal slide clip for quick release, I like that style and then is the one which is factory crimpand stay attached.
4. Loosen the TS and WP bolts and remove them
5. The fun starts now, you basically start by removing the bolts, 3 from WP and two real easy ones from the TS. Then prceed with shifting the two units around and search for your hose connections...lot's of fun - took me two hours to get to them all.
6. Be careful with electrical as they can be tight. They have rubber ring seals which can make them feel tight, slight pull on the wires and at the same time, widdle your connector tabs - know what I mean?
7. A great aid is to have the new parts as a reference when counting all connections and angles, angles and position of the clamp screw. Had to reach up and around to get at two. That's was when the four letter words starting flying.

I did this in my garage with the front end of the car up in the air with side support stands. No jack in the front, would get in the way.

I removed the big belly pan, wasn't necessary as mentioned above, front one absolutely. This job is all about patience.

I purchased my parts from Bavarian Autosports,
WP - 445.00
Thermostat - 110.00
3 new bolts - 10.00
Labor - 2 Gatorades and good music in the garage

Local dealership - 1500.00

I'm a bit finatical about working on my own cars. Used to turn a lot of wrenches in my previous life and have had bad experiences with dealership's.

I did find some oil leaks including transmission pan so I'll be back into to leaks but for now, I want to finish the WP and TS phase.

Don't forget the system air purge process which is noted in the thread earlier.

Plan to install this evening and update with status.